Brick-truck.



N0. 7|6,599. Patented Dec. 23, I902.

S. W. VANCE.

B B l C K T B U C K.

lication filed May 17, 1902.)

P E c. N A W B R l C K T R U G K.

[Application filed May 17, 1902.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

4 lllL'lllLlll l FlIlLl No. 7l6,599. A Patented Dec. 23, I902.

s. w. VANCE.

BRICK TRUCK.

(Application filed May 17, 1902.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

w'; L i an; l Q Q Q 9 1 I L i z I i 770 4 i V I] 1/ +1 Q Q o o a l i ;vt m I; E} I .Z I :I y a r a EH-J I I inn STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

SHELDON WARD VANCE, OF CROOKSTON, MINNESOTA.

BRICK-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,599, dated December23, 1902.

Application filed May 17, 1902. Serial No. 107,731. (No model) To allwhom, it puny concern.-

Be it known that LSHELDoN WARD VANoE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Crookston, in the county of Polk and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick- Trucks, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to hand-trucks primarily intended for carryingbrick, and is particularly designed to facilitate the transfer of bricksfrom one conveying-vehicle to another-as, for instance, from a wagon toa car, or vice versaand for transferring brick from a vehicle to theground, although its use is not limited to this single purpose; but itmay be employed in many situations-such as setting brick in oblongdowndraft-kilns, &c.which will readily suggest themselves when theinvention is understood.

The object of the invention is to provide means for transporting cordedor regularlypiled brick from one receptacle to another or from place toplace without disturbing the formation of the pile, and thus save thetime and labor which are usually expended in arranging and piling brickswhich are dumped in a heap, as is the usual custom.

To this end the invention includes a truck having a body portion withwhich a liftingframe, shiftable in relation thereto, is associated topermit of a load being raised from its rest and supported entirely uponthe truck before the latter is tilted to balance the load fortransportation.

It further includes the provision of a plurality of lifting orsupporting frames to engage the load at different points.

It further includes means for giving said frames relative movement.

It also includes adjustable engaging devices combined with one of saidframes; and it further includes the details of construction, as will behereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

\Vhile the presentinvention is susceptible of many embodiments in whichthe details of construction and combination of parts may be variedwithin wide range without departing from the spirit of the invention, Ihave illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will hereinafterdescribe what I now conceive to be the preferred embodiment of the same.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved truckwith a load supported thereon, the same being tilted rear- Wardly. Fig.2 is a side elevation of the truck resting upon the fingers of the fixedframe with the movable frame in raised position. Fig. 3 is a plan viewof the fixed frame, showing the wings in extended positions. Fig. 4 is adetailed view of one of the side bars with some of the parts associatedwith the same. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the truck with the sameresting upon the fingers of the fixed frame. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectionalview of a wagon-body with the brick piled or corded therein.

As before premised, the truck illustrated in the drawings isparticularly adapted for transferring brick to and from a wagon the bodyof which is constructed as shown in Fig. 6, in which a bottom (1 thereofis provided with a plurality of narrow parallel strips 1), runninglongitudinally of the same. In this .wagon the bricks are corded orpiled in a plurality of rows of superimposed tiers, the bottom brick lof each row being supported upon the strips 5, with its side edgesslightly overhanging the same. As shown, the strips are somewhatnarrower than the width of a. brick and are spaced about the length of abrick apart, measuring from center to center of the same. The bottombrick of each row is laid upon its strip parallel therewith, and thenext tier, comprising three bricks 2 of the rows, are then laidtransversely thereupon upon their edges, so that the end of said bricks2 of the adjacent rows abut against one another. The truck to bedescribed is intended to lift and carry at each load a cord or block ofbricks comprising all the rows extending transversely ofthe wagon andtwo rows deep or longitudinally of the same and to lift and support saidload intact, (the load being raised off its support before the truck istilted to balance the same.) The bottom brick of each row and the bricks2 forming the first tier are engaged by the lifting members of thetruck, and for this purpose two lifting-frames are provided. Bothof-said frames are secured to the main truck-frame 0, comprising theside bars a,

having their rear ends turned to provide handles and suitable paralleland transverse bracing-bars c". To the side bars 0, near the front endsthereof, bearing-brackets are bolted in which the axle c of thesupportingwheel 0 is journaled.

Extending at right angles from the front end of the truck-frame is thestationary lifting-frame, comprising a plurality of'equidistaut-spacedfingers which are provided with a plurality of shiftable wings whichprovide engaging and supporting members. In the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in the accompanyin g d rawin gs each finger 01comprises a pair of tubular members, preferably constructed of ordinarygas-pipe, having angular rear portions secured rigidly to the back ofthe truck-frame c in any desired manner, and between the forwardly-extending members d suitable plates or strips e are secured, upon whichthe wings before referred to are pivotally supported. Eachforwardlyextending finger is preferably of the length of two bricks, andwith each finger two wings are associated, which are so spaced that whenthe fingers are pushed beneath a load of brick, piled, as beforedescribed, said wings will come approximately centrally of the lengthsof the bottom bricks 1. Each wing, with the exception of thoseassociated with the end fingers, comprises a flat oblong plate ofsubstantially the width of the member to which it is pivoted and ofgreater length than said width, so that when the wings are turnedtransversely of the fingers they will project beyond thelside edgesthereof.

The wings associated with the end fingers are only one -half the lengthof the other type of Wings, as they are only intended to project overthe inner edges of the members carrying the same. To rotate the wings ontheir pivots, so that they may be thrown either into parallelism with ortransversely of the fingers d, an operating-rod g is associated witheach pair of the same. The rods 9 extend parallel with the fingers andare pivotally connected to the wings eccentrically of the same. The endsof said rods are connected to a common cross-bar t', slidably secured inthe ends of levers 7o, pivoted to the side bar 0 and connected at theirupper ends by a cross-bar Z, which forms a hand-lever for operating theparts. As will be apparent by pulling back or pushing forward on the barI the levers 7c will be rocked and through bar 1' and rods g the wingsshifted to project their edges beyond the edges of the fingers d or toretract the same.

With the truck-frame a movable lifting and supporting frameis alsoassociated, which includes a plurality of equidistant-spaced fingers m,arranged directly above and in parallelism with the fingers d. Eachfinger m comprises two parallel tubular members having aforwardly-extending free portion and a right-angular extending part m,which slides in guiding-brackets n, secured to the crossbars of thetruck-frame c. The fingers m are rigidly connected to one another at theends of the sliding parts m by a flat cross-bar 0, bolted to the sameand provided adjacent to each side bar 0' with a notch o, in which ahook 19, secured to a cam lifting-lever r, engages. Each of said leversr is pivoted to the inside face of each side bar a and is.provided witha bearing edge that coacts with a bearing-bar r' to relieve the pivot ofthe lever from strain when the movable frame is lifted, as will behereinafter described. When the free ends of the levers are thrown inthe direction indicated by the \arrow, they will through the hooks pcoacting with the plates 0 raise the movable frame in relation to thetruck-frame c. To look the levers r in adjusted positions andtherethrough maintain the movable frame in raised position, struts s areprovided which are pivoted at one of their ends to the side bar a, Whiletheir opposite ends engage with notches in the rear edge of the leversr.

A wheelbarrow-truck of the type disclosed must be provided with legs atits rear to support the handles of the side bars clear of the ground,and to provide said legs I have utilized the levers I. For this purposeeach lever is made of two sections pivotally connected at their adjacentends in such a manner that when the handle of the lever is moved in onedirection the sections will be rigidly locked together and moved as onepiece, but when the free end is thrown in the opposite direction it willmove independently of the section to which it is connected. This effectmay be accomplished in many ways, but in the present drawings I haveshown the sections of each lever provided with corresponding beveledabutting ends which engage above the pivotal point of the sections. Toraise the movable frame to its highest position, the lovers 7' are movedto a position at right angles to the side bar 0 and locked in place bythe struts 8. If the free ends of the levers are then pushed toward thehandle ends of the side bar 0, the outer or lower sections will partakeof independent movements, and as the upper sections are locked rigidlyby the struts 8 they will act as legs for the truck-body.

The truck is used in the following manner, assuming that the bricks tobe transferred to a car have been piled in a wagon, as indicated in Fig.6: The movable frame is dropped into its lowest position, when thefingers m thereof will rest directly upon the fingers d. The truck isthen tilted forward to rest upon the latter fingers D, and in thisposition (shown in Fig. 2) it is shoved beneath the load, the fingers dm entering the spaces between the strips 17 and between the sides of thewagon and the adjacent strips, and if the wings are in retractedpositions the cross- IIO bar Z is drawn back, which-through theinthereof beyond the edges of the fingers (1, so that the edges of saidWings will project beneath the bottom edges ofthe bricks 1. The levers1', which are connected to move in unison, are then depressed,andthrough the links or hooks 1) and bar 0 the movable frame is raiseduntil the fingers m thereof engage with the edges of the bricks 2', andin the continued raising of said movable frame the part of the loadabove the bottom bricks is slightly raised therefrom. The truck is thentilted rearwardly and is balanced upon the wheel c To facilitate thelatter operation,

.the angles 1 of the fingers (Z are rounded.

The load being thus lifted, it is transferred into the car, and thereverse operation of the truck takes place-that is, the truck is firsttilted forward to rest upon the fingers (l, the bar Z pushed forward totilt the levers 7; and through the rods g rotate the' wings, and thuswithdraw the same from beneath the edges of the bottom bricks 1, whenthe latter will drop upon the floor of the car. The levers r are thenreleased,and the movable frame through the weight of the load will dropand lower the loadinto its former position upon or in relation to thebottom bricks 1. As there are no strips similar tostripsborcorrespondingelementsin the car, a slightly-different action ormanipulation must be employed to transfer a load intact, orsubstantially so, from a car to a wagon, or in fact from any place notprovided with supports for the bottom bricks corresponding to the strips1). In the latter case the movable frame having been lowered and thetruck tilted to rest upon the fingers d said fingers, with the wingsretracted and the fingers on resting upon the same. are pushed beneaththe overhanging edges of the bricks 2. The levers r are then depressedas before to raise the movable frame and therewith the bricks piled uponthe bottom bricks from the latter. The truck is then rocked back to restupon the wheels c aud the barl manipulated to throw out the wings. Theattendant then picks up the bottom bricks and inserts the same betweensaid wings and the second tier of bricks, so that when dumped the pilewill be intact. In inserting the bricks 1 they are merely slid in placefrom the forward end of the frame, each pair of fingers m providing achannel the bottom of which is formed by a finger (Z to receive saidbricks. The fingers 'm thus provide means to preventthelateraldisplacementof saidbottom bricks.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that I have provided anexceedingly simple and easily-operated truck which will transfer intactfrom place to place loads of regularlypiled brick withoutnecessitatingthe bandling of the individual bricks, except in the case of the bottombricks, where no supporting-strips are provided therefor.

It will be understood that a suitable platform or inclined way isassociated witha car or wagon upon which the truck may be run intransferring brick from the ground thereto, or vice versa.

I claim 1. A brick-truck cotnprisinga body; a lifting and supportingsection carried thereby, for supporting one set of bricks; and a secondsection for engaging a second set of bricks, said second section beingadjustable longitudinally of said body and toward and away from thefirst section, substantially as described.

2. A brick-truck comprisinga body-section, a raising and supportingsection rigidly secured to said body-section, and at raising andsupporting section movable longitudinally of said body-sectionsubstantially as described.

3. A brick-truck including a body, a stationary frame for engaging andsupporting one set of bricks and a second frame movable in relation tothe first for engaging another set of bricks, substantially asdescribed.

4. A brick-truck comprising a body, a stationary frame for engaging oneset of bricks, and a second frame movable in relation to the first forengaging a set of bricks arranged on a higher plane than said first set,substantially as described.

5. In a truck, for transporting intact a load of bricks piledsubstantially as described which includes a set of bottom bricksarranged in separated rows and a layer of bricks supported thereon andoverhanging the edges of the members forming said rows, said truckcomprising a body, and a plurality of liftingframes having individualmembers for insertion between said rows, the members of one of saidframes engaging and supporting said bottom set of bricks and the membersof the other frame supporting the bricks arranged above said bottom set,substantially as described.

6. A brick-truck comprising a body-section, a fixed lifting-frameincluding a plurality of fingers and a second frame movable bodilytoward and from the first, said second frame comprising a plurality offingers, substantially as described.

7. A brick-truck including a body, a fixed frame having a plurality ofengaging members, and a movable frame havinga plurality of members forengaging the load at points located alternately in relation to thepoints of engagement of the members of the fixed frame, substantially asdescribed.

8. A truck comprising a body, a stationary frame including a series offingers projecting forwardly from the end of said body, and a movableframe including a plurality of corresponding fingers, substantially asdescribed.

9. A truck comprising a body, a stationary frameineludinga series offingers projecting forwardly from the end of said body, and a movableframe including a plurality of fingers arranged parallel to and inalinement with the fingers of the stationary frame, substantially asdescribed.

ICC

10. A truck comprising a body-section, a fixed raising-section, amovable raising-section, and pivoted members for engaging the loadassociated with the fixed raising-section, substantially as described.

11. Atruck comprisinga body, a stationary frame including a series offingers projecting forward from the end of said body, a movable frameand a movable device for engaging the load associated with each fingerof the stationary frame, substantially as described.

12. A truck comprising a body, a stationary frameincludinga series offingers projecting forward from the end of said body, a movable frame,and a plate pivoted to each finger of the stationary frame adapted tohave its edge projected beyond the edge of the same, and meansassociated therewith for rotating said plate, substantially asdescribed.

13. A truck com prisinga body, a stationary frame including a series offingers projecting forward from the end of said body, a movable frame,and a plate pivoted to each finger of the stationary frame, adapted tohave its edge projected beyond the edge of the same, a rod eccentricallyconnected to each plate, and means for shifting said rods,substantiallyas described.

14. A truck comprising a body, a stationary frame includinga series offingers projecting forward from the end of said body, a movable frame,and a plate pivoted to each finger of the stationary frame, adapted tohave its edge projected beyond the edge of the same, a rod eccentricallyconnected to each plate, and means for shifting said rods, said meansincluding a transverse bar common to all of said rods, a pair of pivotedlevers, and an operating hand-bar connecting the same, substantially asdescribed.

15. A truck comprising a body-section, a movable lifting-section, afixed lifting-section, including a plurality of fingers, a pair ofpivoted plates associated with each finger, a shifting-rod associatedwith each pair of plates, a transverse bar common to all of said rods,pivoted operating-levers having a sliding connection therewith, and across-bar connecting the ends of said levers, substantially asdescribed.

16. A hand-truck comprising'a body-section, a movable section comprisinga plurality of fingers arranged in horizontal alinement when the truckis on end, and means for shifting said frame longitudinally of saidtruck, with said fingers projecting from the bodysection at right anglesto the same, substantially as described.

17. A hand-truck comprising a body-section, a movable sectioncomprisingaplurality of fingers arranged in horizontal alinement whenthe truck is on end, and means forshifting said frame longitudinally ofsaid truck, with said fingers projecting from the bodysection at anangle thereto, said means including a lever pivoted to the body-sectionhaving an engagement with said frame, substantially as described.

18. A truck comprising a body; a movable section associated therewith,havingsupporting extensions projecting from said body at right angles tothe supporting-face thereof; the angular relation of said extensions andsaid face of the body being maintained in all the adjustments of themovable section, and

means for shifting the latter including a bar secured thereto; a leverpivoted to the bodysection, and a link connection between the same andsaid bar, substantially as described.

19. A truck comprising a body-section, including side bars, a movablesection including a plurality of members, guides for the same secured tothe body-section, a bar common to all of said members, a lever pivotedto each sidebar, link connections between said levers and said commonbar, and struts for locking the levers, each of said levers comprisingtwo sections, one of said sections being adapted to provide a leg forthe truck, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SHELDON WARD VANCE. Witnesses:

RUDOLPH W. CARLSEN, IVER I. ULSETH.

